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Sunday, October 31, 2010

I JUST LOVE THIS LITTLE SET OF HALLOWEEN LIGHTS... purchased last year...they are so cute! Little grandson screams with delight when I switch them on. The "spooooky punkins" have an amazing orange glow, no wonder the little darling is fascinated. I was so tempted to buy a real carving pumpkin today as they had been marked down to clear at the local supermarket... but wasn't sure if you could eat them as well as just spook with them! Anyone know? I must find out for next year.

IF YOUR ARE WONDERING WHAT THIS IS... well the plan was to have a little Halloween Digi Kit ready weeks ago. Yes, I have been dabbling in digital design for some years now and am proud to say that I recently received accreditation as Digital Designer after completing an intensive course with the amazing Jessica Sprague. Regrettably I only managed to finish the alpha which I used for the Halloween projects earlier this week. It has been such fun ... I must admit I became carried away with the art and forgot about the end product I was supposed to be putting together.

For those interested in card making, paper crafts, digi or paper scrapping...

SO HERE WE GO AGAIN... Simple, spooky trick or treat bags made using another set of Halloween Labels I have designed. The printable file for you to download with the labels perfectly sized and is available by clicking here! I used Epson 'Matte Photopaper-Heavyweight' 167g/m2 for printing out the labels.

FIRST....To make the treat packet I used pages (size 5" X 7.25" ), torn from an old Readers Digest. I also tore away a small strip along one of the short sides too match the long side with the torn edge. You could also use brown kraft paper, scrapbook paper or suitable gift wrap.

THEN... Fold over the long straight edge (a little less than 1cm), and run the glue stick carefully along the edge. Fold the side with the straight edge to the centre and press to adhere the lower edge. Run the glue stick along the straight edge at the centre back and fold over the other side with the torn edge to overlap. Press to stick.

NOW... Add texture to the treat pocket by rubbing a black stamp pad over the back, front and edges for extra spookiness. Decorate the front of the pockets as desired attaching the printed labels with double sided mounting tape. For variation I cut small scraps from onion bags and adhered those first using double sided tape and finished by attaching a small plastic creepy critter.

Monday, October 25, 2010

I have been playing with a few Halloween projects these past weeks whilst I have been trying to put together a digital scrapbooking Halloween themed kit. Whilst here in Australia Halloween is not really an event for most, it is still heaps of fun! I just love the pumpkins, spiders, and witches.... don't you? I have been digi scrapping for nearly 6 years now and love the design side more than anything else. I love playing in Adobe Photo Shop and am now working at improving my skills in Adobe Illustrator! More about that another time.

Back to Halloween....I also had fun... making a few video tutorials to share with you here and had planned to do so last week... but do you think I can upload them? No way! But hey I will work it out don't you worry.

So today I quickly took a few step by step photos to show you how it's done. Super easy, super quick, using items likely to be found in your craft stash or around the home. For the printable PDF for this project simplyclick here to download the Boo labels.OK HERE WE GO..............Print out the set of labels. The download has the Boo labels correctly sized for printing out directly on your home printer. I prefer using mat photo paper (approx. 170 grams or heavier) for great results. Carefully cut out the labels.

NEXT.... To make the folded rosettes you will need a strip of paper 5" X 14 for each one. I joined two pages torn from and old Readers Digest end to end using a glue stick. The paper was aged around the edges and the perfect weight to hold the folds. I carefully tore away a small strip from the other long side so the long sides were matching. Fold the paper strip, fan style making folds a little less that 1cm and then secure at the centre with a wire twist tie... the kind that come in the packs with the freezer bags.

THEN...With the ends of the wire twist tie at the back, rub of the surface of the rosette with a black ink stamp pad to add some great spooky texture. Adhere the cut out labels to the inked side of the rosettes using double sided mounting tape. Attach a ribbon loop to the the top once again using double sided mounting tape at the back or simply staple to hold and your done. You could also join them together to form a swag to adorn your mantel if you prefer.

DONE..... BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE........

IF YOU PREFER....You can also use the rosette to make fun little Halloween 'flowers'. Simply cut off the sharp pointy end of a 12 inch skewer (just to avoid anyone being stabbed), and use the wire twist tie to secure the sewer at the back. Yes.. I know you were wondering why I chose to use the wire twist ties!

ALMOST FINISHED.....Just tie a bow at the top of each stem and your done!